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[sunmon]

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alina starkov, 20

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[princess_of_ida]

[Now this was why she wrote the note in the first place, to spare her the embarrassment of having to talk about it. Damnit.]

"I know this is stupid and silly, but forgive some girlish indulgence."

Something close to that. Probably better phrased.

[sunmon]

[ alina, however, is glowing. it comes through in her voice, that smile. surprisingly unhindered. ]

I like it.
Thank you.
On the subject of House ... I've finished your map, actually.

[princess_of_ida]

[Achievement Unlocked: Friendship Bracelet

Here's hoping Alina understood that Ianthe made herself a matching one so she's not weirded out by seeing it around her left wrist.]

You have? Hell yeah. Can you bring it by the butcher's this afternoon?

[sunmon]

The butcher's?
I mean, yes, but why the butcher's?

cw: reference to gore

[princess_of_ida]

I work there a few days a week. There aren't corpses to prepare for Resurrection all the time. I need some other way to contribute that doesn't bore the shit out of me.

I'd come get it from you, but I'm currently elbow deep in a deer carcass.

[sunmon]

You're a little gross.
I'll be by in a bit.

[princess_of_ida]

It's part of my charm.

[sunmon]

Yeah.

[ she admits it sort of wryly.

after she is done with her work for the day, she makes her way to the butcher's, sleeves of her white blouse still rolled up around her elbows from washing the book glue off her hands. her hair is pulled out of her face by a braid that has grown loose and tangled over the course of the day.

she knocks on the door frame as she enters the shop through the back door. ]

Ianthe?

[princess_of_ida]

Hey, Sunshine. I'm almost done. Five minutes.

[Ianthe called over from a spot far enough back from customer view that they couldn't see exactly what she was working on, but the wet sound of something slopping in a basin didn't make it hard to figure out as she finished separating out the usable parts from what was going to the dogs later. She took the usable parts back into storage to be hung later, necromancy preserving them so it wouldn't be an issue, then the rest wrapped up to be taken to the dogs later.

It was at this point that Alina would notice that Ianthe looked terrible, especially considering how good she'd looked at the dinner party (necromancy made up for so much that night). Her hair was still in the twin braids she slept with it in, flyaways escaping everywhere, and there were dark circles around her eyes. Whether they were from a lack of sleep or she'd just done a shit job cleaning her eye makeup from the party was hard to tell. It was probably a combination of both. There was a smear of mostly dried blood on the side of her nose where she'd rubbed it, and a band of fat encircling her left wrist to protect the bracelet underneath it.]

That should do it.

[With a flick of both hands, the mess that had been on her arms and apron flaked away as she decayed it until they were clean, though the blood on her face remained. She didn't even hang the apron back up before she was over to Alina, eyes immediately zeroing in on her journal as she automatically looked for any damage.]

Any trouble with the map?

[sunmon]

I cut my teeth on moving borders and encampments in a war zone.

[ she laughs a little. ]

A township is easy. I added your usual points of interest, got a sense for the districting, and cleaned up the extent of the farmlands and their structures, as well as the treeline of the woods. I also added some of the bodies of water from inside the woods.

[ she looks ianthe over, judging the sudden clean an appropriate level at which to offer out the journal for her to take. it's then that she notices they both wear the same bracelets, entangled threads tight around their wrists.

a smile twitches at her mouth, but with it comes a sense of responsibility. ianthe doesn't look okay. ]

What have you been up to?

[princess_of_ida]

That's far more than I was expecting when I handed this over to you.

[The journal was greedily taken back, Ianthe moving over to a clean surface so she could open it to the map. Her fingers traced the detail Alina added, steady in contrast to her eyes which were twitching all over the map, like there were two processes going on in her mind. The finger traced from the gates out to the edge, until it came to rest on those numbers doodled in the corner, idly tapping. She didn't even look up to answer Alina's question.]

Work. Research. Making these. [That was punctuated with her raising her left arm for the bracelet.] Missed work here yesterday, so I made it up staying extra long today.

[sunmon]

Missed work for ... research?

[ she tilts her head, inclining it a little closer to ianthe, who seems to have all but forgotten that alina is there in the face of the journal. not promising. ]

What exactly is it you're researching, again?

[princess_of_ida]

Don't really remember. I was going to go, but then it ended up being too late.

[Her words were distracted, eyes still not stopping to focus on one specific spot on the map, continually moving over the pages. At least she was responding to Alina, even if she wasn't paying any attention to her in the face of the map.]

Why it's 10,985 when it's supposed to be 10,984, when she has them. It doesn't make sense. If she's pulling from it, it should be 10,983 not 10,985. I need to know why. Fucking unknown variable, I will fucking find you.

[The last hissed to herself as her bone fingers started drumming on the counter surface, gradually getting faster and faster.]

[sunmon]

What is that number?

[ alina asks it carefully. it wasn't just on the map. she'd looked. ]

You wrote it in other places, too. Were you counting something?

[princess_of_ida]

Obviously. What else are numbers for but counting things? Measuring things. [Despite the slight shift of condescension into her tone, it was still unfocused and almost like she was talking to herself than Alina.]

The distance. The distance to the edge of the aura. Can't get too close or it calls too much, but the edge is safe. It won't get me from there. 10,984 except when it isn't and it should. Now that I have this I can take a different track. See if its the same other angles and... [Phalanges suddenly stopped, leaving the shop in a brief silence that gave away Ianthe's increased breathing. The bone finger went to one of the eleven sections she'd marked before that wouldn't cross with any of the water Alina had marked.]

There.

[sunmon]

There?

[ alina looks down at the map. ]

What's there?

[princess_of_ida]

The next track.

[Ianthe snapped the journal shut and finally looked at Alina, eyes blinking quickly a few times to get them to focus on her friend.]

Thanks, for the map. It's amazing. Truly. I'll see you later?

[sunmon]

You— You're going now?

[ alina flounders. ]

Surely you have time to go get something to eat or to rest, first.

[princess_of_ida]

I'm not hungry. [Why would she do to eat when there's SECRETS to pry out of the Void?]

There's only so much light and this will take me hours. I need to go now.

[sunmon]

[ she reaches out to grab ianthe's shoulder. ]

Hey. Slow down. Please.

[ she feels like she's being left behind already. mal got that way sometimes too. ]

If light is the problem, I can go out with you later. As long as you need, if you'll just ... rest. Get something to eat, sleep, take a bath with me. Then we can go ... [ she looks down at the journal, deeply troubled. ] Count the paces to the Void. It's not going anywhere.

[princess_of_ida]

[The physical contact pulled Ianthe out of her whirling mind just enough to wonder why Alina was being so insistent. It took effort, her brow furrowing, and she tilted her head. One of the braids swished into her peripheral vision and Ianthe picked it up, noticing she hadn't even brushed her hair out when she got up.]

Oh. Um. Okay. Do you know why I'm still in the braids?

[sunmon]

Not in the slightest. [ she laughs a little, admitting it. ] We can take them down for the bath.

cw: choking reference

[princess_of_ida]

This is how I do my hair for bed. So I don't choke myself. Not into autoerotique asphyxiation.

[She was quiet for a long moment, hands tightening on her journal, as she looked past Alina at the wall.]

I need my other journal.

[And she headed for the door again.]

[sunmon]

I've never choked on my own hair in my sleep ... Has that really happened to you?

[ alina is laughing, bewildered, but she follows after ianthe to the door. another journal seems reasonable ... ish. ]

[princess_of_ida]

Your hair isn't this long.

[Ianthe forgot to leave the butcher apron behind or take the dogs their food, heading to the boarding house.]

It happened once. I think. Or Corona did it to me. Again. Never was sure. But I could get her to braid my hair every night after that.